Kosmas Ballis Sculpture

In Jingdezhen, everything can fit into the ‘small’ kiln (This is about 4000 lbs of clay)

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Welcome to my website! I just got back from an 8 month excursion in Asia and am excited to share some of my new work. I began my trip in beautiful Taiwan where I was awarded the Gold Prize at the Taiwan Ceramics Biennale. I spent 3 and a half months creating new work there which will be featured in a solo exhibition at the museum in July 2018.

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After my residency in Taiwan I went to Shangyu, China for 2 months to continue making new works, including ones which are now in the permanent collection of the planned International Celadon Museum. Shangyu is the birthplace of celadon glaze and is home to 1000’s of newly discovered ancient kilns which are currently being excavated and preserved as cultural heritage sites.

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My final destination in China and most exciting was to Taoxichuan in Jingdezhen, the porcelain capital of the world. Taoxichuan is the ceramics equivalent of Silicon Valley in the United States. In fact my colleagues joked that Jingdezhen is the Silicate Valley of the world in that regard. It is a place like no other and its generations of potters is unparalleled anywhere else in the world. In Jingdezhen, I refined my new style and approach to ceramics that I discovered while working with the different materials I encountered while in Asia.

 

My experience in Minnesota began on October 1, 2017.  My work will surely change from this experience like it did from my time in Asia. First off, I was fortunate to meet and work with Anthony Stellacchio, who is an amazingly brilliant and insightful artist. Perhaps the foremost expert on Lithuanian folk pottery. It was a great start to my northern experience. After the residency ends, the McKnight Fellowship recipients (including Anthony, Eva Kwong and myself) will have an exhibition which will travel throughout the state of Minnesota to various venues.